“David Copperfield” – A Return to Dicksonian Economy

What the heck is going on? A few weeks back a draconian bill was passed that basically puts the unlucky American who lost a job or has large medical bills out on the street, while United is allowed to stiff its loyal employees (and 9/11 widows) on retirement benefits.

Bush is trying to change Social Security so it pays out less to retirees and more to Wall Street, and yet major companies are allowed to default (without consequence) on retirement obligations. The only losers here are the American people. (But not the rich ones.) These guys are taking us back 100 years to the Dicksonian era. The Repubs used to emphasize a return to Donna Reed and Leave it to Beaver. Now they seem to want to roll time back even further to 20th century England. Perhaps it’s time to re-read “Bleak House”, “David Copperfield”, and “Little Dorrit” to get a feel for what life in America would be like for the average person if these totally heartless people running the country get their way.

Isn’t it interesting how Bush et. al. stress that Americans should take more responsibility for their lives (i.e. total ownership society) while at the same time allow large corporations to walk away from their own responsibilities?